Improvement in fire-extinguishers



-H. s. PARMELEE.

UNITED STATES` PATENTIQETCE.

HENRY SPARMELEE, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNEUTIUU'I.,

l IMPROVEMENT `IN FIRE-EXTINGUISHERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 156,374, dated October27, 1874; application led september 3o, 1874. Y

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY S. PARMELEE, of New Haven, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inFire-Extinguisher; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent a sectional side view.

This invention relates to an improvement in a Ere-extinguisher, of whichLetters Patent were granted to me August 1l, 1874, parts of which areapplicable to other purposes; and the invention consists, rst, inconstructing the distributer with a recess or neck between it and itsbase, combined with a hard metal cap, set over and closely fitting thedistributer, and extending down to the base, so as to inclose bothdistributer and neck, and attached to the base by a material fusible ata low degree, so that, when the cap shall become heated, the securingmaterial will fuse and free the cap, the neck preventing contact ofwater with the fusible joint until after the cap is free, all as morefully hereinafter described 5 secondly, in constructing the valve whichactuates the alarm with a cylindrical projection below the seat, whichnearly fills the opening through the seat, and so as not to allow a fullflow of water until the cylindrical projection has passed above thevalve-seat, whereby an increased movement is given to the valve to actupon the alarm, as niore fully hereinafter described.

A is the pipe or tube, to which the perfo- .rated distributer B isattached; over the distributer the cap C is loosely fitted, and is setcured thereon by a metal or material fusible at a low degree-say,120O-but so as to make a'- tight joint, and prevent the escape of water,gas, or Whatever it may be.

In order to prevent the water from flowing freely upon the fusiblematerial, I construct the distributer with a recess or neck, n, betweenthe distributer and the base b, where the cap is attached, and the capto fit closely the periphery of the distributer; hence, but very littlewater can Vreach the joint or fusible material until the cap has passedbeyond or entirely from the distributer; therefore the quantity of waterwhich can reach the fusible material will be so very small as not tomaterially affect its fusibility.

So soon as this cap shall have become heated to thepreviously-determined degree, the material which secures it in placewill fuse, thus freeing the cap from its connection, and the pressurewithin the pipes will force the cap off the distributer, and therebyallow the water to iow freely through the said distributer. Thiscompletes the first part of my i11- vention.

D is the valve, arranged within the chamber E to fit upon the seat E, insubstantially the usual manner, with the spindle G running out throughthe stufng-box; also, in the usual manner, upon the under side of thevalve is a cylindrical projection, L, which nearly lls the openingthrough the valveseat. N is the inlet, through which the water, orwhatever it may be, is to flow to the distributer, and in order to holdthe valve at rest upon its seatthat is, to balance the valve-a slightopening, a, is made through the valve, which will allow the water toflow through and fill the chamber E on the back side of thevalve5'hence, so long as the dis. tributer is closed, the valve mustalso remain closed; but so soon as the cap is thrown off the pressureupon the back of the valve will be removed, and the valve will open toallow the free flow of the water.

To sound the alarm (here represented as a steam-whistle actuated throughthe valve-stem P) a considerable motion of the valve-spindle G isnecessary, more than would naturally be given by the opening of thevalve. By the addition of the cylinder L of the valve the passage cannotbe fully open until this part L of the valve has passed back or abovethe seat; hence there must be given to the valve an additional movement,according to the length of the part L, and this is sufficient to givethe required movement for the alarm. This completes the second part ofmy invention, and this is applicable to other purposes than for are-extinguisher where it is desirable to sound an alarm.

I do not, broadly, claim a cap secured over material, substantially asand for the purpose the distributer, to be loosened or removed by heat,as such I am aware is not new.

I claim- 1. In combination with the distributer B, constructed wtltlg'eneck n and base b, the cap C, attached to the said base by a fusible setforth. A. J. TIBBITs.

